Mastered By Love (37 page)

Tariza’s rooms had grand
double doors and two armed guards – female, of course. The guards
blinked when they saw him, exchanging bewildered glances. She
gestured toward the doors and the guards opened them, bafflement
still plain on their faces.

The air in her room felt warm as a
summer afternoon. A fire burned briskly on the hearth. Through the
windows he saw the trees and shrubs of what looked like a walled
garden, still bare and leafless in winter.

“
Thank you, Rosaria,”
Tariza said. “I’ll handle it from here.”

“
Are you sure, Your
Highness? It might not be safe.”

Dario drew himself up in indignation.
He would never harm Tariza.

“
We’ll be fine,” she said.
“On your way down, send for the doctor and some food. Enough for
two.”

Rosaria bowed, her long
black braid sliding over her shoulder. “Very well, Your
Highness.”

When they were alone, the
door shutting out guards and idle passersby, Tariza threw her arms
around him. “I didn’t know. They let me think you were
dead.”

What new trick was this?
Did she mean to taunt him with their former closeness? He set his
hands lightly at her waist, his body trembling at the contact. “You
are well?”

“
I’m getting
better.”

He longed to touch her
everywhere, but he restrained himself, keeping his hands where they
were. “Were you injured in the carriage accident? I tried to tell
them, but they wouldn’t listen to me.”

“
My arm was
broken.”

He groaned against the
crown of her head. “I’m sorry.”

“
It wasn’t your fault. You
didn’t crash the carriage on purpose.”

“
No, but it wouldn’t have
happened if not for me.”

“
Many things wouldn’t have
happened if not for you.”

He couldn’t argue with
that.

Tariza stepped back from him and he
let his arms fall to his sides. She took him by the hand, leading
him to a sitting area with a Concordian-blue couch and a couple of
chairs in front of the hearth.

She curled up on the couch.
“Come and sit by the fire. Food will be here soon.”

Dario settled stiffly on
the carpet at her feet. Her hand rested on his head. God, her touch
felt good, even through his shame. He closed his eyes, savoring the
pleasure of it. But his grimy, oily head – which hadn’t been washed
in days. They didn’t let him bathe unless a woman had demanded his
services. She shouldn’t touch something so dirty.

Dario flinched and pulled
away. “My hair is filthy.”

“
Yes, it is. Didn’t they
let you bathe?”

“
Not very often.” He fought
the urge to look up at her face. “Will you feed me from your
hand?”

“
No.” She sounded
surprised. “I’ll give you your own plate.”

“
I’d like to take food from
you,” he muttered. The Concordians had given him two stripes for
every one Tariza had received, yet it wasn’t enough. He would do
all the things she’d done during her time in Saturnios.

“
You would?”

“
Yes.” He rested his head
on her knees. “It would be right.”

She patted the cushion next
to her. “Come up here with me. You can put your head in my
lap.”

No woman had invited him to
sit or lay with her. They’d only used him and left him alone. He
climbed onto the couch, his chains clanking and sliding around,
banging into Tariza’s legs. She held them out of the way while he
arranged his long body on the shorter sofa and laid his head in her
lap. Her fingers threaded through his hair, so gently.

Dario turned on his side and put his
arm around her waist, holding her to him. His face pressed into her
lower belly and for the first time since his capture, he felt true
desire stirring within him. God, just to taste her again, to hear
her moans.

“
You’re so thin,” she said,
running her hand down his ribs. “Haven’t they been feeding
you?”

“
Not much.”

“
I’m sorry.” She sounded
genuinely distressed.

“
You have nothing to be
sorry for.”

“
Did they – did they hurt
you very badly?”

“
Two stripes for every one
you received at my hand.”

Her hand clenched in the
fabric of his tunic. “You never striped me.”

“
No. But Mateo
did.”

“
Take your shirt off and
let me see.”

She’d certainly recovered
her autocratic ways. He smiled as he sat up and pulled off the
tunic, turning his back so she could look. The marks must have
faded by now, but perhaps looking at them would help her achieve a
sense of justice.

She gasped. Her fingers
trailed lightly over the healing welts on his skin. “This is
terrible.”

“
It’s not so bad
anymore.”

“
It’s far more than twice
what I received. What were they thinking to be so brutal? This is
not the Concordian way.”

Wasn’t it? She’d said she
wanted to take out her enslavement on him, yet now she quibbled
about the punishment her people had already given him. Her words
made no sense.

Behind them, the guards
opened the doors. “Doctor Holla, Your Highness.”

Dario glanced over his shoulder at the
newcomer.

The Queen’s private
physician entered Tariza’s chambers with a regal sweep of the long
coat she habitually wore over her Concordian trousers. Her dark
hair, shot with silver, lay in a long Concordian braid that draped
over her shoulder. Dario froze, his stomach turning to ice. It was
her.

“
What can I do to help,
Your Highness?” Holla stopped short as she rounded the sofa and her
gaze fell on Dario. “Him!” Her shocked eyes met Tariza’s. “What is
that barbarian doing in your quarters, Princess Tariza?”

“
He’s mine. I brought him
here.”

“
Yours! But he –” The
doctor flushed crimson.

Could it be she felt shame
for the way she’d treated him?

Tariza laid a protective
hand on Dario’s shoulders. “Mine. He has an infected injury I want
you to treat.”

He couldn’t bring himself
to look at Holla. As she came closer, a wave of shamed heat washed
over him, from his ragged tunic up his neck all the way to his
hairline. His lips set in a hard line. Damn that woman.

Holla sniffed. “Very well.
But I have to protest at his presence here. He belongs in the
prison.”

“
I disagree. Will you treat
him or not?”

“
Yes, I’ll treat him.” The
doctor set her bag next to the sofa. “Show me the
injury.”

He’d rather she didn’t
touch him at all; however, he needed the infection tended and
apparently Holla was the most qualified person. Dario extended his
left arm, still without looking at the woman who’d raped him. Holla
frowned, bending down to inspect it more closely. She touched the
cuts lightly with the tip of her finger.

“
What is this? It looks
like ... is that the Princess’s name?” She sounded even more
shocked than before.

“
She is my Mistress,” he
said flatly.

“
Did you make these marks,
Your Highness?”

“
No. He did it.”

Holla shook her head. “That
was foolish. But what do you expect from a man?”

“
Skip the criticism and
tend my slave, if you please,” Tariza said.

He could have kissed her. Instead he
flicked a short glance at Holla.

Now it was the doctor’s
turn to flush. “Yes, Your Highness. My apologies.”

She rummaged in her bag,
drawing out a bottle of liquid, bandages and a sharp instrument.
“I’ll need you to hold him down, if you can. He’s awfully big.
Maybe we ought to chain him to the floor. If he moves, I could
injure him further.”

Dario straightened his
back. Did she think him a monster? “I don’t need to be chained,” he
said between clenched teeth.

“
Silence, slave,” Holla
said.

“
He’ll hold still.” Tariza
frowned at the doctor. “He’s not a child. He’s a Saturnian
warrior.”

The doctor blinked. “Yes. I
suppose he is.”

She bent to her work,
cleaning Dario’s skin and the blade with liquid from the bottle.
Using the blade to open the infected flesh, she doused the cuts
with more liquid. When it hit the raw flesh, it burned like fire.
Dario hissed between his teeth, his hand tightening into a fist as
his whole body went rigid with pain. But he didn’t move.

Holla bandaged him with
clean strips of linen. “You’ll need to apply heat to speed healing.
Several times a day for at least three days. That’s all I can do
for him. If his body fights off the infection, he’ll be fine. If
not, we might have to remove the arm.”

“
There’s no way you’re
cutting off my arm,” he growled.

Holla recoiled slightly.
“He’s a most ill-behaved beast. He’s too dangerous for you to keep
here. Won’t you send him back to prison where he
belongs?”

“
I appreciate your concern,
Dr. Holla, but he won’t hurt me. There’s no need to
worry.”

Holla sighed, shaking her
head. “I hope you’re right.”

“
I know him and trust
him.”

The doctor gave her a
baffled stare. “Isn’t this the man who abducted and enslaved
you?”

Dario flushed.

“
There’s more to the story
than that,” Tariza countered, her face heating. They were all
blushing today.

The doctor shook her head
again. “I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it.” She sounded
like she thought Tariza had lost her mind. “Is there anything else
you require of me?”

“
No. You may go,” Tariza
said in a most regal tone.

Dario turned his head to
watch Holla walk through Tariza’s door and into the
hallway.

“
I never knew her name,” he
said after the door had shut behind her.

“
Did she ... use you?”
Tariza said hesitantly.

He sent her a sidelong
glance. “Many times.”

“
And she never told you her
name?”

“
No. Never.”

He couldn’t read the
expression in her eyes. Sad? Angry? Disgusted, perhaps. She
probably did feel disgust for the way he’d allowed himself to be
used. God knew he did.

Yet there was no disgust in the motion
of her hand as she lifted it to his face and caressed him. Her
thumb traced the line of his eyebrow, then the top of his cheekbone
and down to his lips.

“
I wish I’d known sooner
what they were doing to you.”

“
You wouldn’t have taken me
out of the prison,” he said.

Her brows creased. “Of
course I would. How could you think I’d leave you
there?”

She rose up on her knees and leaned
into him, bringing their faces close together. Suddenly he could
hardly breathe through the desire that gripped him. He spread one
hand against the small of her back.

Tariza’s gaze fell to his
lips. She leaned in, brushing her mouth across his. He kissed her
back, keeping his response gentle, undemanding. If he let himself
go, he’d have her under him, on the floor. He’d be inside her in a
moment.

Her other hand cupped the back
of his neck. She moaned softly against his lips, her fingers
playing in his hair. Dario’s cock rose with a hungry
throb.

Tariza quivered
against Dario’s body, her pussy aching to have him
again. It had been so long. So long. And she’d thought she would
never be with him like this again.

The door crashed open with
such a bang Tariza jerked in Dario’s embrace. She turned her head
to glare at the intruder who dared enter her chambers without
permission and jerked again. Queen Merita stood just inside the
doorway, her face rigid with furious disapproval.

“
What is this I hear about
you abdicating?” she snapped.

“
It’s not really
abdication, is it?,” Tariza said, keeping her voice mild. “I’m only
the heir.”

“
Don’t play silly word
games with me, Tariza. You know how much I hate it when you treat
your position lightly.”

“
I’m not treating it
lightly, Mother. I’m passing it on to Lenora. She’s far more suited
to the position than I am. Think of it this way. You’ll no longer
have to be disappointed in me.”

“
Whatever are you talking
about? I’m not dis –” She broke off to stare open-mouthed at Dario.
“What is he doing here?”

“
You know, that’s the same
thing Holla said when she came in to treat him. And it’s the same
thing I thought when I found him in the prison today. I wonder why
that is?”

Her mother’s face turned an
angry red. “He belongs in prison. That’s why.”

“
Does he?”

Merita frowned at her. “He
committed a crime punishable by death. The only reason I kept him
alive was to avenge your abduction.”